Easy Ways to Remove Spring Allergens from Your Home

The spring allergy season may be relatively short, but if you suffer from allergies, you’re counting the days until it ends. Flowers and trees are in bloom, and the gentlest of breezes causes pollen to be airborne, which you then unwittingly breathe in. You can take obvious steps, like avoiding gardening except when using a mask, and avoid having cut flowers inside the house. But there are additional survival steps to take in order to make the season more bearable.

Keep Pollen from Coming Inside

Your first step is to prevent pollen from even entering your house. One question often asked is “Can I open my windows and enjoy the fresh air”? The answer is that, for the most part, you need to keep your windows closed. Pollen is most active in the early hours of the morning, so if you don’t have an air cleaner you might try opening the windows for about an hour in the late evening to freshen the air and get rid of lingering cooking odors.

After closing the windows, you will have increased the particulate level in your house and you’ll need to turn up any room air purifiers to maximum fan speed. If you find that by opening the windows, even for this short amount of time causes a visible layer of pollen to settle on surfaces, then you might forgo opening your windows at all.

Everything Needs a Bath

When entering your house, wash the soles of your shoes and wipe down the shoe tops. Pets will also need to be wiped down with a damp towel upon reentering the house. If you and other family members have been outdoors, then changing clothes and washing hair before bedtime is very important. Washing hair is essential, otherwise pollen particulates will find their way onto your pillow, and you’re breathing them into your lungs will exacerbate night time symptoms.

Another effective way to ensure a better night’s sleep is to use a nasal irrigation system before bedtime and rinse any pollen particles trapped in your nasal passages.

HEPA Filtration Could Help

Pollen particles are relatively large and easy to trap using a high quality HEPA air purifier and a sealed HEPA vacuum cleaner in your home. Start by concentrating on making your bedroom a sanctuary, so that you get at least 8 hours rest from the pollen assault. You’ll need to put your air purifier on high fan speed a couple of hours before bedtime to clear the air. Then close the bedroom door and keep the air purifier on low fan speed during the night.

Air purifiers are also recommended in other parts of the house and your office desktop, if applicable. Since pollen particles are relatively heavy and settle fast to the ground, using a HEPA vacuum is essential to vacuum carpets, upholstered furniture, furniture surfaces, and even walls where sticky pollen particles can find a resting place. You may try using a completely sealed HEPA vacuum like a Miele vacuum that won’t blow the pollen particles back into the room through the exhaust system. You want particles safely trapped inside the vacuum cleaner.

Find the Right Air Purifier

By following the above suggestions, many spring allergy sufferers can keep the majority of their symptoms at bay. Talk with an expert to select the right air purification products for your home.